Sheng Tang: What is Liu Jianjun going to do today?

Chapter 135 A Real Bonfire Dinner by the Luo River
Taiping ignored Liu Jianjun's request to change the way he was called "Junzi," then sat back down on the rock, rested his chin on his hands, and muttered, "Brother Wang, I'm hungry."

Li Xian chuckled to himself.

"So, do you want to go back?"

"No, places with people are too oppressive. This place is good. The butterfly has found a good place."

Li Xian paused for a moment before realizing that the butterfly Taiping was referring to was Jinghong, so he smiled and corrected her: "It's called Jinghong now."

Taiping's eyes lit up for a moment, but then he pouted and muttered, "Brother Wang, I'm hungry..."

Li Xian glared at Taiping with annoyance, then turned to look at the horse Liu Jianjun had brought. He thought to himself that since Liu Jianjun couldn't ride a horse anyway, he might as well kill it.

He still had the dagger at his waist, so bleeding and cutting flesh were no problem for him. The only problem was that the terrain here was flat, so he would have to go further to kill the horse. Horses are intelligent, and they would grieve if their companions were killed in front of them.

"What...what are you doing!" Liu Jianjun suddenly jumped up, muttering in terror, "It's just hunger, there's no need to kill a horse!"

Then he urged Li Xian and Taiping to rest on the shore, then borrowed the short knife from Li Xian and walked to the side. After a while, he came back carrying several sharpened bamboo poles.

Li Xian was curious about what he was going to do.

But Liu Jianjun simply carried the bamboo pole, walked to a shallow beach surrounded by several large rocks, and with a powerful thrust of the pole, pierced a white fish.

Li Xian paused for a moment, the fish that Liu Jianjun had stuck in his hole looked familiar.

Then, Liu Jianjun said, "It's all thanks to the Tang Dynasty's ban on catching carp... oh, no, I mean red carp, it's all thanks to the Tang Dynasty's ban on catching red carp, otherwise these guys wouldn't be able to grow so fat and so stupid."

Li Xian rubbed his forehead and said, "Do you want to hear what you're saying? Is the whole world banning the capture of the Red Carp just so you can capture it more easily?"

"So what? I can't exactly let you eat my Whirlwind Charge, can I?"

Li Xian glanced at Liu Jianjun's horse and thought that the horse was worthy of the name, but the rider was another matter.

On the contrary, Taiping did not object to Liu Jianjun's actions. She even ran over, took a bamboo pole from Liu Jianjun, and imitated him by sticking it into the water.

So Li Xian couldn't resist and went over to join them.

……

Liu Jianjun was indeed a fraud.

What do you mean by these guys being fat and stupid? Li Xian and Taiping tried to stab the fish several times, just like Liu Jianjun, but they couldn't even hook a single fish.

Taiping was the first to lose heart, haphazardly plunging the bamboo pole in his hand into the water: "Why do you hit the target every time!"

Li Xian also looked at Liu Jianjun with curiosity.

"Don't aim for the fish directly, the water's too clear. Aim for about an inch below the fish's belly!" Liu Jianjun rolled his eyes and casually caught another one. He already had three fat red snapper in his hand. Liu Jianjun used a piece of seaweed to pierce the gills of the red snapper, then pulled it out of their mouths and held it in his hand.

The gills of those fish were stretched open by the seaweed, and they looked almost as big as their plump bellies.

Li Xian thought for a moment and decided to give it a try. He took a bamboo pole, aimed it at a red scorpion that was constantly opening its mouth, spitting out saliva, and barking at him, and plunged it in!
This time, Li Xianyi immediately felt that the texture of his hands was different.

The red carp was thrashing about in the water. Li Xian pulled out a bamboo pole, which twisted strangely as it emerged from the water, the end of which pierced through the carp's body. But the carp didn't die; it just kept thrashing about.

It really can work.

"You two are obviously people who never lift a finger in the kitchen. Anyone with a little experience living by the water knows that you have to pierce the fish a little lower."

Liu Jianjun looked at Taiping with a provocative gaze, and Taiping was eager to try.

Finally, after Liu Jianjun helped her adjust her arm a few times, Taiping caught a red chubby fish and danced with excitement. Just as she was about to try again, Liu Jianjun stopped her: "That's enough, that's enough. I have three more here! It's against the laws of the Tang Dynasty!"

Li Xian chuckled to himself. Did he remember now?
……

Liu Jianjun proved he could survive anywhere. He gathered some dry branches and leaves, lit them with flint, and whittled the bamboo poles he had previously used into sections over a foot long. He then inserted these sections into the bodies of the red carp, creating a makeshift grill.

Then, he handed two of the red carp to Li Xian and Taiping, while he took the remaining three and roasted them over the fire.

"I'll give you two two to roast for fun. I can't let you two waste these three. They're the ones that will fill your stomachs."

Taiping was very dissatisfied. She thought that roasting fish was not a difficult task, so she grabbed the fish and put it on the flame.

"Tsk tsk, grilled fish over an open flame, you want to eat charcoal?" Liu Jianjun sneered.

Taiping's face darkened with annoyance, and he took the bamboo pole back.

Li Xian, however, had learned from Liu Jianjun's example. He patted the fish's tail in his hand, then turned it over and patted its belly.

Although he didn't know the significance of Liu Jianjun's actions.

"My fish fell on the ground and got muddy, why are you taking pictures?" Liu Jianjun looked at him with a puzzled expression.

Ok,
He now understands the significance of Liu Jianjun's fish-shooting.

……

Grilling fish isn't actually that difficult. You just need to control the heat, the distance between the fish and the flame, and make sure to flip it over so the fish is heated evenly. And... and Liu Jianjun is all you need.

Liu Jianjun is right.

Even though Li Xian tried to grill fish like him, the final result was still not quite satisfactory.

Some parts were black, and some parts were still bleeding; at least one glance you could tell it wasn't very tasty.

In contrast, the three pieces that Liu Jianjun grilled were different; they were golden and crispy, and looked incredibly appetizing.

Taiping lost all her ladylike image while eating.

The sunset glow atop the distant Longmen Mountains had turned a deep, dark purple. The sun was no longer visible, lying dormant beneath the earth; those sunset clouds were merely the dust stirred up beneath its throne.

This time, the sunset didn't reflect in Taiping's eyes; instead, the firelight from the campfire danced on her face, bathing her in warm hues.

Of course, there was also Liu Jianjun standing next to him.

Liu Jianjun's appetite was as picky as ever. After a few bites, he lost interest and ran to the riverbank, seemingly searching for something. When he returned, he had picked up some purple leaves and then used his fingers to tear the fish meat from behind the leaves.

After tearing off the fish meat, I put the purple leaves into my mouth along with it.

Li Xian wondered what a strange way of eating this was, but after trying it, he found it to be exceptionally delicious.

Taiping also liked to eat like this. She imitated Liu Jianjun and herself, picked up a piece of fish and put it in her mouth, her eyes shining.

Then he sighed, "If only I had called Wan'er out today too."

……

(End of this chapter)